So, will lawmakers listen?

03:02 PM CDT on Monday, May 3, 2004

By GROMER JEFFERS Jr. / The Dallas Morning News

BOSSIER CITY, La. – Maxine Johnson is the kind of Texan who Louisiana loves.

On Sunday, she drove three hours from Dallas to gamble at the just-opened Harrah's Louisiana Downs Casino and Racetrack.

"I'm having a great time," said Ms. Johnson, an Avon saleswoman who was treading water at one of the casino's 1,400 slot machines. "If they had this at Lone Star Park, I wouldn't have to travel so far."

The scene at this splashy facility – whose 20-foot-high ceilings and three restaurants (including a bakery and butcher shop) contrast with the tight quarters on the longtime casino boats on the Red River – provides a hint of what could come if some Texas lawmakers have their way.

Shane Bevel / Special to DMN

Maxine Johnson plays the slots at Harrah's Louisiana Downs in Bossier City.

Under a Texas school finance plan before the Legislature, the owners of Lone Star Park could add video gaming machines to its existing horse-racing facilities. Up to 40,000 slot machines would be featured at Lone Star and six other Texas horse and dog tracks, and potentially three American Indian casinos.

Until then, Texans are taking to the roads in search of gambling havens in Louisiana, Oklahoma and New Mexico. The new Bossier City facility is one of three racinos – casino/horse-racing tracks – in Louisiana, where more than 14,000 slot machines ka-ching across the state in a variety of gaming venues.

"We love the guests from Texas and want them to have fun," said Ted Bogich, Louisiana Downs general manager. "We've had a terrific response from all the guests. They love it here."

Texas officials estimate that residents lose about $1 billion annually at neighboring casinos.

According to statistics compiled by the Louisiana Gaming Control Board, Louisiana Downs was averaging about $5 million a month in revenue from a year-old temporary casino before opening its new facility Friday.

The racing season at the track begins May 14.

Mr. Bogich did not say how many Texans were among the thousands who attended the casino's weekend opening, but a check of the 3,000-car parking lot showed significant cross-border traffic.

In the self-parking area, one out of every three cars had Texas plates. In the valet parking lot, eight of 10 cars were from Texas.

"Heck yeah, if there was a casino closer to home, I would go there," said Donald Simmons, 43, of Arlington, who works at General Motors. "It's a helluva drive, but when I win, it's worth it."

The 50,000-square-foot, $110 million casino was buzzing with action early Sunday afternoon, as a collection of locals and Texans played the high-tech slots or dined at a lavish buffet.

Two women wearing black and white dresses and high-heeled shoes said they had sped to the new casino after an early morning church service – in Dallas.

A man from nearby Carthage, Texas, said he had been in town since Saturday's Kentucky Derby and had begged his wife to let him stay just a few more hours.

Two other couples had arrived at the Isle of Capri Casino in Shreveport on a tour bus from Dallas. They took a cab to Louisiana Downs to check out the new facility.

And Rosemary Henry, a 55-year-old marketing director from Texarkana, said she visits Louisiana casinos once a month and wouldn't have missed Harrah's grand opening. Sometimes she takes money back home.

"I come here quite a bit," she said as she played a slot game called Double Wild Cherry. "It would be nice if we had something like this in Texas."

Some legislators say they recognize that it may be time to allow slot machines in Texas, even though they personally oppose gambling.

"I don't like video lottery terminals," said Rep. Fred Hill, R-Richardson, referring to the machines that include video poker games. But he said the school funding package "is all going to be tied together. ... We don't have the luxury of saying, 'I don't like this so I'm not going to vote for it.' "

Rep. Ron Wilson, D-Houston, a longtime proponent of allowing gambling, agreed.

"You can just look at the cars in the parking lots of these casinos and see that we are losing revenue," he said. "It's clear the people of Texas are going elsewhere to gamble."

But Rep. Jodie Laubenberg, R-Parker, said some tax revenue isn't worth pursuing because of its social impact.

"Sometimes you just have to look past all of that and vote your conscience," she said. "I just can't support a gambling component of any school finance plan."

Whatever the case, Texans such as Ms. Henry will keep crossing the state line to gamble.

"I wish we had something like this," she said. "But I certainly don't mind coming here. It's incredible."

E-mail gjeffers@dallasnews.com